System for storing objects in predetermined storage containers

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a system for storing objects, such as surgical instruments, in predetermined storage containers ( 4 ). The system includes a conveyor ( 1 ) for transporting objects ( 3 ) placed on the conveyor to a camera ( 12 ) for recognizing the objects by reading an identification code provided on each object, and a device ( 6 ) for transporting each object ( 3 ) from the conveyor to the storage container for which it is intended. The system is characterized in that it includes a device ( 5 ) for transferring each recognized object ( 3 ) from the conveyor ( 1 ) into a box ( 8 ) for transporting the object into the container for which it is intended, and a device for supporting this transport box ( 8 ), which is movable according to a stepwise movement.

This application relates to International Application PCT/FR2012/051986,with an International Filing Date of Sep. 5, 2012, which claims thebenefit of French Patent No. 2979903, filed Sep. 9, 2011, each of whichis incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The invention relates to a system for storing objects, such as surgicalinstruments, in predetermined storage containers, comprising a conveyorfor transporting objects placed on the conveyor to a camera forrecognizing the objects by reading a code provided thereon and a devicefor storing each object in the storage container intended for saidobject.

It is desirable that the storage system has a simple structure as wellas a simple running while ensuring perfect safety, although theoperation consisting in storing all the instruments that are part of aset required for a specific use, for example for a determined surgicalprocedure, in a container, is a complex operation.

It turns out that systems that meet the above requirements do not existso far.

Therefore, an object of the invention is to overcome this drawback.

To achieve this object, a system according to the invention ischaracterized in that it comprises a device for transferring ordischarging each recognized object, from the conveyor to a box fortransporting the object and finally into the container for which it isintended, and a device for supporting the transport boxes, which ismovable according to a stepwise movement, each step of the transportdevice corresponding to a one step ahead of the conveyor, during whichthe object has been recognized by the recognition camera.

According to a feature of the invention, the storage system ischaracterized in that the transport boxes are mounted on a movablesupport means, designed as a carousel having, at its periphery, saidtransport boxes whose number is least equal to the number of storagecontainers.

According to another feature of the invention, the storage system ischaracterized in that the transport boxes are mounted on a movablesupport means moving linearly according to a movement of going and whichis carrying out at least as many steps as there are storage containers.

According to yet another feature of the invention, the storage system ischaracterized in that the transport device comprises at least one moretransport box than there are storage containers, this additional boxbeing adapted to discharge instruments that could not be discharged in astorage container, in a waste container.

According to yet another feature of the invention, the storage system ischaracterized in that each transport box is pivotally mounted on thesupport so as to be able to pivot between a position for receiving andtransporting an object and a position for discharging an object in astorage container.

According to yet another feature of the invention, the storage system ischaracterized in that it comprises, upstream to the camera forrecognizing objects by reading their code, a camera for capturing theplacement of the objects on the conveyor in positions allowing objectrecognition by the recognition camera.

According to yet another feature of the invention, the storage system ischaracterized in that the order and the number of the storage containersare determined according to the arrival order of the recognized objectson the transport device.

According to yet another feature of the invention, the storage system ischaracterized in that the storage container of the set of which thefirst recognized object is being part, is the container that is takenaway by one-step of the transport device from the receiving position ofthe objects to be stored.

According to yet another feature of the invention, the storage system ischaracterized in that the coordinates and the content of the storagecontainers is advantageously displayed on a display screen associatedwith the recognition camera.

The invention will be better understood and other objects, features,details and advantages thereof will appear more clearly in theexplanatory description which follows with reference to the accompanyingschematic drawings that are given by way of example of an embodiment ofthe invention only and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the storage system according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, on a larger scale, of portion 2 depictedin FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are two schematic views of the system according to theinvention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and

FIG. 5 is a view of a portion of an instrument provided with anidentification code.

The invention will be described by way of an example of its applicationto a storage system of surgical instruments in predetermined storagecontainers adapted such that these containers each contain a set ofselected instruments for a specific use such as surgery. Of course, theinvention is not limited to this specific application.

According to FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, a system according to the inventioncomprises a conveyor 1 designed as an endless belt for receivingsurgical instruments 3 to be stored in a designated storage container 4,which is intended to transport those instruments 3 from their placementplace on the conveyor to a transfer point of the conveyor, by a transferor discharge device 5, to a device 6 for transporting transferredinstruments in their assigned storage container.

In the shown example, the transport device comprises a support means 7designed as a carousel, having a number of transport boxes 8 at itsperiphery, each for receiving an instrument 3 transferred from theconveyor 1. According to the invention, the carousel moves in a stepwisemanner, the boxes 8 being evenly distributed at the periphery of thecarousel. As particularly seen in FIG. 1, at each stop position of thestepwise movement, except the area corresponding to the angular positionfor receipt of the discharged objects, a storage container 4,represented in the figures as a box, is placed on a support table 9 sothat the tool lying in a transport box 8 can be transferred into astorage container. Therefore, given a number N of transport boxes 8, thesystem comprises N-1 storage containers. As shown in FIG. 2, thetransport boxes 8 are mounted pivotable between a device receiving andtransport position and a discharge position thereof in the correspondingstorage container 4, on the carousel. According to the invention, eachof these storage containers 4 is intended to contain a set of surgicalinstruments established for a predetermined use, e.g. a surgicalprocedure, as stated above.

In order to be able to carry out the storage of the instruments 3 insuch an orderly manner in the storage containers 4, the system isequipped with a device for recognizing the instruments by means of acamera 12 for recognizing instruments 3 by reading a specific codeprovided on each instrument. FIG. 5 shows, as an example, an instrumentencoded by a number of encoding points distributed in an unique wayspecific to the instrument on a, for example square, area of theinstrument surface. Of course other encoding means could be expected.

The camera 12 for recognizing instruments, hereinafter designated asdecoding camera, is upstream of the transfer point.

In the shown example, the system according to the invention comprises anadditional camera 14 which is a capturing camera and is intended forreproducing, on a display screen 15, the image of the instrument whichis disposed in its field of view, on the conveyor. This camera thereforeallows placing the instrument on the conveyor so that the area 16 thatcontains the code is located in the center of the screen 15 andtherefore in a position allowing the decoding camera 12 to read thiscode in an optimal manner when the instrument passes through its fieldof vision.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the surgical instrumentsto be stored in the storage containers 4 are arranged on the conveyor byan operator who is provided with a conveyor control panel 17.

The operation of the system according to the invention as shown in thefigures and described above will be described below.

After properly placing a first instrument 3, that is designated by 3 ato facilitate the understanding of the invention, on the conveyor 1 withthe coding area under the camera, in the field of view thereof, theoperator can monitor its position through the screen and presses abutton on his control panel 17, what sets the conveyor in motion so asto carry the instrument to the transfer device 5 by making it passingunder the decoding camera 12. In order to facilitate the positioning ofthe instruments on the conveyor, each instrument may have thecharacterizing code on both sides, namely the upwardly oriented face andthe face resting on the conveyor.

When the tool 3 a passes under the decoding camera 12, it reads andrecognizes the code, that is to say identifies the instrument. When theinstrument comes in front of the transfer device, it moves the latterinstrument perpendicularly to the conveyor axis and pushes it on thesloped plane 19 thereby allowing the instrument to slide in thetransport box 8 of the carousel, which is in front of it and isdesignated by 8 a.

Meanwhile, the operator has placed a second instrument designated by 3 bon the conveyor, in the field of vision of the capturing camera 14.After founding out that the instrument is properly positioned, that isto say its code is in the center of the image reproduced on the screen,the operator presses the button of his control panel 17, therebystarting, on the one hand, the conveyor that moves then the tool to thedecoding camera 12 so that it recognizes, that is identifies, theinstrument, and thereafter to the transfer device 5, and on the otherhand, the one-step rotation of the carousel so that the transport box 8a that had previously received the first tool 3 a, is at the end of thestep, positioned above the first storage container 4 a. In this carouselposition, the instrument 3 a is discharged into this first container 4 awhich then becomes the container of the set of instruments to which thefirst tool 3 a belongs. At the end of this rotation step, an emptytransport box 8 designated by 8 b is positioned in front of thedischarge device which then pushes the second instrument 3 b in thisbox.

When the operator presses again the button for controlling a movement ofthe conveyor, after positioning a third tool 3 c thereon, in the fieldof vision of the capturing camera 14, the carousel carries out, duringthe displacement time of the instrument to the transfer device 5, a newrotation step such that an empty transport box 8, now designated by 8 c,is moved in front of the discharge device. The transport box 8 bcontaining the second instrument 3 b is, at this time, above the firststorage container 4 a. If the second instrument is part of the set thisfirst storage container 4 a is intended to receive, the instrument isdischarged in this container. If it is an instrument that is part ofanother set, this instrument is discharged into the second storagecontainer 4 b at the end of the second rotation step made during therecognition of the third instrument 3 c the discharge device pushed inthe third transport box 8 c. Thus, the storage container 4 b becomesthen the storage container for all instruments of the set the secondinstrument 3 b is part of.

Thus, each instrument recognizing step causes the carousel to rotate onestep. The storage containers 4 for receiving different sets ofinstruments are determined as the recognition of the instruments by thedecoding camera goes on. The set to which the first instrument 3 abelongs is received in the first storage container 4 a and all theinstruments that are part of this set will then be discharged into thiscontainer 4 a. The first recognized instrument not being part of the setto be stored in the storage container 4 a will be placed in the secondstorage container 4 b. The first recognized instrument that is part of athird set is discharged into the third storage container 4 c and so on.

The composition of the storage containers and their identificationnumber is displayed on a screen 18 of the decoding camera 12 so that theinvention allows full traceability of instruments.

Of course, various modifications can be made to the invention. Forexample, the decoding camera 12 can be mounted movably in the movementdirections of the conveyor and perpendicular thereto to be able to bealways optimally placed over the encoding area of each instrument, underthe control of the capturing camera. One might also consider using onlyone camera that will be advantageously designed to be able to positioncorrectly, automatically, over the instruments to recognize. The timeneeded by the carousel to perform a one-step rotation will then bedetermined by the movement of the recognized, that is decoded,instruments to the discharge device. The conveyor movement is thentriggered at the end of the recognition operation of the camera or byany other suitable manner. One could also consider making the systemfully automatically run without operator. In this case, a one-stepmovement ahead of the conveyor could then ensure the moving of aninstrument from its placing location on the conveyor to thetransfer/discharge device, and this conveyor ahead-moving step willtrigger the one-step movement of the carousel. One could also replacethe carousel by a device that moves the transport boxes linearly, in astepwise manner, to discharge the instruments in storage containerssuitably aligned. It should also be noted that the system comprises, inaddition to the storage containers, a waste box for receivinginstruments that could not be placed in storage containers, for anyreason. One could also consider, without departing from the scope of theinvention, determining upstream the storage containers which will thenbe filled according to an appropriate software.

1. System for storing objects, such as surgical instruments, inpredetermined storage containers (4), comprising a conveyor (1) fortransporting objects (3) placed on the conveyor to a camera (12) forrecognizing the objects by reading an identification code provided oneach object, and a transport device (6) for transporting each object (3)from the conveyor to the storage container for which it is intended,characterized in that it comprises a transfer device (5) fortransferring each recognized object (3), from the conveyor (1) to a box(8) for transporting the object into the container for which it isintended, and a device for supporting this transport box (8), which ismovable according to a stepwise movement, each step of the transportdevice (6) corresponding to a one step ahead movement of the conveyor(1), during which the object (3) has been recognized by the recognitioncamera (12).
 2. System for storing according to claim 1 wherein thetransport boxes (8) are mounted on a movable support means (7), designedas a carousel having at its periphery said transport boxes (8) whosenumber is least equal to the number of storage containers (4).
 3. Systemfor storing according to claim 1 wherein the transport boxes (8) aremounted on a movable support means moving linearly according to aforward movement and which is carrying out at least as many steps asthere are storage containers (4).
 4. System for storing according toclaim 1 wherein the transport device (6) comprises at least one moretransport box (8) than there are storage containers (4), this additionalbox being adapted to discharge instruments that could not be dischargedin a storage container, in a waste container.
 5. System for storingaccording to claim 1 wherein each transport box (8) is pivotally mountedon the support (7) so as to be able to pivot between a position forreceiving and transporting an object and a position for discharging anobject in a storage container (4).
 6. System for storing according toclaim 1 further comprising, upstream to the camera (12) for recognizingobjects (3) by reading their code, a camera (14) for capturing theplacement of the objects on the conveyor (1) in positions allowingobject recognition by the recognition camera.
 7. System for storingaccording to claim I wherein the order and the number of the storagecontainers (4) are determined according to the arrival order of therecognized objects (3) on the transport device (6).
 8. System forstoring according to claim 7 wherein the storage container (4) of theset of which the first recognized object is being part, is the containerthat is taken away by one-step of the transport device from thereceiving position of the objects (3) to be stored.
 9. System forstoring according to claim 1 wherein the coordinates and the content ofthe storage containers (4) is advantageously displayed on a displayscreen associated with the recognition camera (12).